Cold Canucks opposite of Avs

VANCOUVER — Record-cold temps have invaded this beautiful city, but when I pulled out the Celsius/Fahrenheit converter, I was surprised to learn the near-record low of -5C is a balmy 23F in most Canadian circles. Am I missing something here? I guess that’s why the outdoor portions of the Olympics and Vancouver weren’t ideal, weatherwise.

The Canucks are in a cold snap of their own. Losers of four consecutive games, they host the Avs, winners of for in a row, Wednesday at Rogers Arena. The Canucks are somewhat of a mess at both ends of the ice.

Offensively, big-time scorers Alex Burrows, Henrik Sedin, Mikael Samuelsson and Mason Raymond have had problems putting the puck in the net. Those four guys have combined for just 11 goals, although Burrows — who led the Canucks with 35 tallies last season — has played just 10 of 20 games. Last season, Burrows, Samuelsson (30 goals) Sedin (29), and Raymond (25) each had career years.

“Everybody had unbelievable years last year but we’ve got to be realistic,” Daniel Sedin, who leads the team with 12 goals, told the Vancouver Sun.

Defensively, goalie Roberto Luongo is having his worst season with Vancouver. In his last three games, his save percentage has been under .900, including .800 (16 saves on 20 shots) in Saturday’s loss to the Blackhawks. Luongo was pulled in that game and his overall save percentage of .907 is 25th among NHL goalies with at least 10 starts.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see what the Canuck faithful do if the Avs get up by a couple goals Wednesday. Vancouver lost its last two games at home, with a combined score of 10-3 to Chicago and Phoenix on Saturday and Sunday.